Who Killed Malcolm X? (2019–2020): Season 1, Episode 3 - Black Messiah - full transcript

In the 1960s,

the FBI launched one of the biggest

counterintelligence operations
in its entire history.

Black people everywhere today are fed up

with the hypocrisy
practiced by whites.

And they kept a very close watch

on brother Malcolm.

And if something isn't done,

then I'm afraid
that you will have a racial explosion.

And a racial explosion is more deadly
than an atomic explosion.

J. Edgar Hoover, the director of the FBI,



was deathly afraid
of someone like Malcolm X.

Malcolm was being surveilled,

he was being followed,

his phone was tapped.

If you look
at the investigation of Malcolm X,

it's when he becomes a public figure
for the Nation of Islam

that the Bureau starts
taking more of an interest

into his subversive rhetoric.

You seem to be dissatisfied
with everything.

- Just what do you want?
- I'm not dissatisfied with everything.

I'm just telling you
that the Negroes themselves

should take whatever steps necessary
to defend themselves.

The FBI had multiple

high-ranking paid human informants



in the leadership
of the Nation of Islam.

Could it have been that FBI informants

were actively involved
in Malcolm's murder?

Almost certainly so.

Some members
of the Nation of Islam became

willing tools.

But they were the puppets.

The puppeteers were in charge
of that whole situation.

Those of you
who think we are here

to tell you to love the white man,

you have come
to the wrong place.

And those of you who think that

you perhaps came here to hear us

tell you to turn the other cheek
to the brutality of the white man,

I say again
you came to the wrong place.

Malcolm was
a dazzling speaker, dazzling.

Practically every Saturday,

I would go to 125th and 7th to hear him.

I studied him seriously,

because I considered him
potentially a grave threat,

a danger.

We have a subculture in our society

and it resides in the ghetto.

And we are conditioning this subculture

and their reaction is very predictable...

I was a detective,

a sergeant, and a lieutenant.

We were monitoring what we thought

were subversive activities,

attending meetings,
listening to speakers.

That's really how we got involved
with Malcolm.

We see that
they have surrounded us

with many of their own agents,

in uniform and out of uniform,

who have spent much time here in Harlem

posing as peace officers,

and at the same time breaking up
the peace of black people.

We thought
Malcolm was a very capable,

talented, dangerous man.

He became the most charismatic figure
in the Nation of Islam.

We didn't know
if he was going to break the law,

but he had power.

The NYPD had a special unit

that was actually,
it was modeled after the FBI.

It was called the Red Squad,

but its official title was BOSSI,

the Bureau of Special Services
and Investigation.

They were like a miniature FBI

that the FBI helped to train.

We would see
the cops there at every demonstration

and we'd see them with cameras

so it didn't take us long
to do some research

and figure out what they were doing.

Are you conducting
surveillance at demonstrations?

Do you believe I'd tell you that?

Why shouldn't you?

I mean, like,
do you have anything to hide?

Is there anything illegal?

You with the camera!

Are you with the police department?

Who are you with?

- Red Squad!
- Red Squad?

They saw
certain organizations as threats,

and they wanted to destroy
those organizations.

BOSS sees a threat

as anyone who's agitating
for radical change.

And they saw Malcolm as a threat.

Malcolm knew
he was being watched.

He used to say to his people,

"I hope you don't mind,
but you're probably being tapped.

We know that the cops do that to us."

I knew that Malcolm picked up
phones on the second ring.

So I would listen to
ring one, and then

perfectly time it with ring two.

He had two phones and I just listened.

From eight in the morning
until ten o'clock at night.

That was what the position was.

I knew Malcolm,

and he knew that I was a member
of BOSSI. He knew that.

He always called,
"Lieutenant Bouza, how are you?"

He thought that the police department

was monitoring him in a very obvious way.

I don't think he understood
that we were tapping his wire

and listening to the tapes.

Did we suppress enthusiasm
for civil liberties?

Did we intrude into privacy? Yes.

But I was all right with it

because I felt
that we were protecting the nation.

We cooperated with the FBI.

We were, uh, intimate.

They had a guy
who was there every day

going through our files and reports

and giving them
to his superiors.

And this is in the age
of J. Edgar Hoover, of all things.

Awful man, and we were his handmaidens.

As long as I am director of the FBI,

we will continue to maintain
its high and impartial standards

of investigation, despite
the hostile opinions of its detractors.

In reconstructing
the chronology of Malcolm's life,

working with the Malcolm X Project,

which was founded by the late
Manning Marable

at Columbia University,

the FBI is an important source because

of how extensive
their surveillance was of him.

You could chronicle
Malcolm's daily movements,

the date, the place, the people,

by going through the FBI files.

The FBI first started
investigating Malcolm in 1950.

He was still in prison.

Once he got out of prison,

they kept almost daily tabs
on Malcolm.

Malcolm kept them busy.

The growth of the Nation

and the FBI surveillance of Malcolm

go hand-in-hand.

I mean, Hoover has a deep history

of trying to subvert
black radical movements

and also a fear of what he later describes

as "the black messiah,"

this fear that one singular figure
is going to lead

exactly what he fears,
which is a revolution.

I pray that God will bless you

in everything that you do.

I pray that you will grow intellectually,

so that you can understand
the problems of the world

and where you fit into
in that world picture.

Brother Malcolm
might have been that messiah

who could have unified and electrified

the Black Nationalist organizations.

And that's what they did not want.

- Thank you.

The Bureau's
investigation of Malcolm X

really picked up in the early 1960s

as he became much more of a public figure

because of his influence
in bringing members

into the Nation of Islam.

The Bureau, like much of America,
was very afraid

that radical revolutionary violence was
on the horizon.

And they were very concerned that perhaps

there would be a leader to rise
to focus that anger.

And they took it on themselves

to look for ways
to try and prevent that.

Remember, Malcolm is political.

Elijah Muhammad is religious.

And the FBI's worst fear

is that Elijah Muhammad
would become more political.

The Nation of Islam,

which already has
a paramilitary structure,

could then be converted
into soldiers for struggle.

So the FBI was determined

to use counterintelligence techniques

to create more distance and schisms

between Malcolm and Elijah Muhammad.

- Salaam-alaikum.
- Walaikum-saalam.

Mr. Moderator,

our distinguished guests,

brothers and sisters,

our friends, and our enemies...

He said, "If you have a fear
about being...

of coming under FBI surveillance,

then you should not
get involved with me."

Everybody is here.

Sometimes, they would have agents
to attend meetings,

but that depends on
what type of gathering it is.

If white people are okay to be in it,

then you can expect to see an agent,
but if it's not,

then they have informants,

and you must make a distinction
between an informant and an agent.

How old were you at the time
when you were assigned Malcolm X?

I would imagine I was 27, 28.

There's a thousand agents
in New York City.

And then there was this one little squad

run by a fella named Ruckle
that did black extremists.

So, I ended up on his squad.

We called ourselves
the "Ruckle's Raiders," you know?

So I spent every day working Malcolm X.

We ran spot surveillances,

developed informants.

We didn't have any black agents,

so you had to go out and
you had to develop informants.

These were just black people
we picked up on the street.

We were all the time looking for somebody

that you thought you could use.

And not only us,

the Bureau of Special Service
of the New York City Police Department,

they had their informants.

So we would exchange information.

I would meet them. Never in Harlem.

I would search out places.

Underground garages, movie theaters.

I liked the movie theaters.

Movie theaters were dark. I'd go in.

The informant knew
I'd go down the left aisle,

half-way down, take the second seat in.

He'd come and sit beside me.
We'd exchange information.

Then he'd leave.

I'd stay and watch the movie.

There are documents in the FBI file

that clearly establish FBI agents

were tracking Elijah Muhammad,
the Nation of Islam,

and Malcolm X,

and they knew all the secrets.

The question is,
what did they do with the information?

- Hey, there. Great to see you!
- Good to see you, Dave.

Dave Garrow is an expert
on the FBI's involvement

in disrupting black groups
during the '60s and the '70s.

Come in and sit down.

He and I check in
occasionally about the Malcolm X case.

I think many people would imagine that

the most wiretapped person by Hoover's FBI

was Martin Luther King, Jr.

Well, no.

The person who was most
electronically surveilled by Hoover's FBI

was Elijah Muhammad.

The FBI was listening to Elijah Muhammad
and his top aides 24 hours a day.

So, this speaks very explicitly

to how important Hoover's FBI
thought the Nation of Islam was.

Bless me...

The FBI may very well
may not have understood

everything of what they were hearing,

but those electronic surveillance logs

may be evidence
towards identifying

who the conspirators
behind Malcolm's murder were.

Now, these 1962 documents
where the Bureau is aiming

to publicly embarrass Elijah Muhammad,

you know,
that's a classic Bureau tactic.

You should have a look at this.

"Bureau continues to receive information

through investigation conducted
by Chicago and Phoenix

that Elijah Muhammad is engaging
in extramarital activities

with at least five female members
of the Nation of Islam.

This information indicates

Muhammad has fathered some children
by these women...

These paradoxes
in the character of Elijah Muhammed

make him extremely vulnerable to criticism
by his followers."

So, they're trying to find a way
to damage his reputation

and damage his image
with his own followers.

Right.

As I can show you here,

this is a great example
of how the Bureau used

counterintelligence tactics,
or COINTELPRO,

to embarrass Elijah.

This is coming out
of the Internal Security Section

at FBI headquarters.

"Chicago is authorized
to prepare and mail

an anonymous letter to Clara Muhammad.

These letters should be mailed
at staggered intervals,

using care to prevent any possibility
of tracing the mailing

back to the FBI."

So these are the kind of tactics
the FBI was using?

- Yes.
- These poison pen letters.

Yes.

COINTELPRO was the FBI's nickname
for dirty tricks.

The tactics of COINTELPRO

were meant to disrupt
the ability of groups to focus

and to coordinate activities.

They're trying to use information

that the Bureau had gathered
over the years

to disrupt
some of these more radical groups

that they thought were threats.

What is the significance

of the Western Union telegram
from J. Edgar Hoover that reads,

"Enough of this black violence"?

Then there's another quote,

"Do something about Malcolm X."

What would the director be asking for?

There is obviously an issue
which he's concerned with,

the violence.

Could that be interpreted
as something more nefarious?

Is it possible?

- As far as the activity--
- I mean, "Do something."

Well, the range of things
we've seen the Bureau do

from sending anonymous letters,

sending material to the press

to try and create rifts
within the group...

So more nefarious seems
to be going a little far.

On the other hand,
these were all activities well outside

of anything the Bureau
should have been doing.

Obviously, the kind of investigation
that was begun on Malcolm X

would not have cut mustard today.

When men will seek
to destroy the church of God...

Mmm-hmm.

...they have degenerated
to a tragic level...

- Hmm!
- Of inhumanity and sin.

The goal
of Dr. Martin Luther King

is to get Negroes to forgive the people

who have brutalized them
for 400 years by...

by lulling them to sleep

and making them forget
what those whites have done to them.

The civil rights movement
was just getting cranked up,

but laying down
and letting people spit on you,

and beat you, and hoses on you,
and you just be there,

and nonviolent,
it didn't appeal to Malcolm.

He wanted something
that had a little more bite to it.

As long as the dogs were biting
Negro women,

Negro babies, and Negro children,

Kennedy said nothing.

It was only after the Negroes
began to strike back...

You see,
the Nation of Islam had a position

where they didn't get involved
in politics.

And totally opposed, you know,

to the general activities,
in terms of civic affairs.

The way things were going in the '60s,

Malcolm could not abide
by that apolitical philosophy.

He said some very, very harsh things

against the civil rights leaders.

Martin Luther King is just a 20th century,
or modern, Uncle Tom

who is doing the same thing today

to keep Negroes defenseless
in the face of attack

that Uncle Tom did on the plantation
to keep those Negroes defenseless.

For years,
Malcolm was beating up on King.

That's what you mean by nonviolent.
Be defenseless.

♪ Marching out the freedom band! ♪

He said, "It's time to stop singing,

and start swinging."

It was politics
that really started the rift

between Malcolm and the Nation.

And the Ronald Stokes incident
in Los Angeles

changed everything.

The LAPD clashed
with a group of young black Muslims.

One Negro was killed,

and six others seriously injured.

Black communities in Los Angeles

had been fighting for years
against police brutality.

And an off-duty police officer
winds up shooting Ronald Stokes

while he has his arms extended
in prayer.

Seven Muslims were shot.

None of them were armed.
None of them were struggling.

None of them were fighting.

None of them were trying
to defend themselves.

Malcolm had been
building up the mosque in Los Angeles

since the late '50s.

Ronald Stokes was the mosque's secretary.

Malcolm knew Ronald Stokes from Boston.

He was very close to him,

and I believe it was Dr. Betty Shabazz

said that that was the only time
she ever saw Malcolm X cry,

when Ronald Stokes was killed.

You can talk about Birmingham,
Alabama all you want,

this happened in
Los Angeles, California...

Malcolm wants revenge.

According to people
who are close to Malcolm,

he wants to organize people to go out
and deal with the police who did this.

We have witnesses
who saw this Negro beaten

by the police as he was laying
on the sidewalk, dying,

with a bullet already through his heart.

This is Ronald Stokes,

he's a Phi Beta Kappa, Korean vet.

Not only did Elijah Muhammad veto

retaliation against the police,

he said, "Cool Malcolm down.
Cool him down, man.

Cool him down.

I'm not about to go to war
with the Los Angeles police."

The Nation of Islam
at this time was making

an incredible amount of money
through their business empire.

So, for Malcolm to be up there

making all these political statements,

it's threatening their money,

and it caused the Nation
a lot of problems.

We do believe in defending ourselves
if we're attacked...

Elijah Muhammad is against
the police brutality,

but doesn't want Malcolm
to take this active stance.

And Malcolm has to come home.

Many of you thought
that we should go right on out then

and make war on the white man.

You wanted to do it yourself, didn't you?

And Malcolm was very embarrassed by that.

Because after all of this rhetoric
about an "eye for an eye,"

you guys did nothing.

'Cause you don't like the idea

of white people shooting
black people down, do you?

And this was escalating tensions
between Malcolm and the Nation.

And the white man should be thankful

that God has given
the Honorable Elijah Muhammad

the control over his followers
that he has,

so that they can play it cool,
calm, and collected.

At this stage of the game,
based upon information

that the Bureau received

through their taps
and through other sources,

they began to see some ripples.

They began to see that
all was not well in paradise.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad
said we were "honeycombed"

with enemies who wanted
to destroy the movement from within.

Whether they were working for the FBI

or working
for the New York Police Department,

the enemies of the Nation of Islam

wanted to kill two birds
with one stone.

The FBI had three human
informants in the Nation of Islam

whom it regarded as TOPLEV informants.

That TOPLEV is simply an
abbreviation for "top level."

At the top of the Nation of Islam,
it was a very small little pyramid.

So, when we have the FBI saying
that they have three top-level informants,

the potential pool of individuals

is less than ten possible people.

I went to Washington.

They arranged for me
to be interviewed by Hoover.

He turned me down.

I was turned down directly by Hoover.

He said, "Not at this time."

I'm on the phone with John Ali,

former national secretary
for the Nation of Islam

under the leadership
of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

Yeah, Brother John,
there's been rumors

that you was a double agent
working for the FBI.

Did you want to comment on that?

Well...

I was no agent for the FBI

or any other entity
of the United States.

They all was the same to the Messenger.
He didn't...

People used to tell
the Messenger they heard rumors,

"John Ali was a FBI" or something,

but this didn't excite the Messenger
or make him apprehensive.

The Messenger stated clearly

that everything has failed

the American so-called Negro.

The government, the Congress,

the FBI, and the church.

They all were the same to the Messenger.

He didn't view one
more vicious than the other.

They're all pockets on the same pants.

So if there was no shame
in being an FBI informant,

was there any truth to the rumor
that you were?

No.

No more than saying
I was a usher in a church,

because they're all the same.

Pockets on the same pants.

Let every nation know

that we shall pay any price,

oppose any foe,

to assure the survival
and the success of liberty.

And so, my fellow Americans,

ask not what your country can do for you,

ask what you can do for your country.

It appears as though
something has happened

in the motorcade route.

It was definitely the president's car.

Apparently something is wrong here,

something is terribly wrong.

President John F. Kennedy died
at approximately one o'clock

Central Standard Time,
today, here in Dallas.

The Kennedy assassination
was really the proverbial straw

that broke the camel's back.

We all was shocked
at the hearing of this tragedy.

Elijah Muhammad
had great respect for Kennedy,

and said, "This man
is the country's president.

This is our country.

So we can't say anything disrespectful."

In the months leading up to this,

Malcolm has been verbally
beating up John Kennedy.

So everyone wants to know
what Malcolm is thinking.

Malcolm had made preparations

to bring the Honorable Elijah Muhammad
to New York

for a big speech.

And Kennedy, in the interim,
had been assassinated.

So he told Malcolm,
"We'll call the meeting off."

Malcolm pleaded with
the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

He said, "If you'll let me
continue with that meeting,

I won't say anything about Kennedy."

So the Honorable Elijah Muhammad told him
that he could go ahead with it.

But he said, "Be sure you don't say
anything about the late president."

He said, "He's well-loved

and it would not rest well
with the people."

Malcolm was
at his house in Queens.

I was assigned to escort Malcolm,
uh, to the Manhattan Center.

We drove down to Manhattan Center.

So Malcolm went
through that whole program.

Never said anything about the president.

At the end,
he opens the floor for questions,

and a man stood up.

To this day, I can see his face.

And he said, "Minister Malcolm,
do you care to comment

on the death, the assassination
of John F. Kennedy?"

Malcolm dropped his head down,
and thought,

and it looked like that minute
of silence was an hour,

and then he raised his head.

Malcolm X, second-in-command

of the Black Muslim Movement,
expressed joy

at the assassination
of President Kennedy

at a Manhattan rally last Sunday.

Malcolm said that
the killing of the president

was an instance
of "the chickens coming home to roost."

He added, and we quote,

"Being an old farm boy myself,

chickens coming home to roost
never make me sad.

They always make me glad."

And the audience broke
into a tremendous applause.

He didn't take no more questions.

He walked off the stage.

And I was surprised.
It shocked me.

Why would he say that?

And especially the Kennedys.

I think, at this point,

Malcolm was tired
of this kind of political game

Elijah Muhammad was playing.

Look, all the violence
that this government

has brought to other parts of the world
is coming home now.

That's our teaching!

Well, I said the same thing
that everybody says,

that, uh, his assassination was the result
of the climate of hate,

only I said, "The chickens
came home to roost,"

which means the same thing.

Because the president died,

we're not going to speak the truth?

But you did not say
you were glad the president was killed?

- No. That's what the press said.
- Uh-huh.

What will I look like saying that I'm glad

the president was killed?

John Ali was there.

He claims that he wasn't, but he was.

And he ran to the phone,
he called Chicago.

He said, "Minister Malcolm is...

He said this about the president."

And the next day...

This statement is
from Messenger Elijah Muhammad,

the leader of the Muslims of America.

Minister Malcolm has been suspended
from public speaking

for the time being.

There are advantages to obeying, you know?

And there are disadvantages to disobeying.

You don't get a reward if you disobey.

You only get a reward if you obey.

Elijah Muhammad sat Malcolm down.

He told him,
"You can no longer represent us

on a national level

until a period of 90 days."

He left him in charge
of the East Coast area,

and left him on salary.

Told him to sit down
and don't say nothing.

Malcolm knew what he was doing.

He was being rebellious.

He had gotten so popular,

and it went to his head.

This whole thing
was emotional from the time it started.

Everything, the whole atmosphere,

the environment was charged.

Once the Messenger gave him those 90 days,

people started taking sides.

And then things just snowballed
from there.

I am not the number-two man
of the Muslim movement,

like the press has been
saying over and over.

The FBI, by this point,
has a pretty well-worn strategy.

And they're making sure that
the public feels like there's a tension

between Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X.

They are pretty actively
feeding information

through journalists.

And it fed into this narrative

that Malcolm was trying
to take over the Nation.

So Malcolm has to
constantly go around and say,

"I'm not the next leader.
I'm not the number two."

And it's an insult to me
to refer to me as the "heir apparent"

of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

I'm his minister.

Elijah Muhammad, he started delegating

more of the administration
of the Nation to his children

and the national secretary, John Ali.

They started putting seeds of doubt
in his mind

about Malcolm's loyalty.

And they're getting in his head.

"Did you hear what Minister Malcolm said?"

And Elijah Muhammad starts believing this,

and he starts seeing Malcolm
as being dangerous.

My work is divine work.

Allah has chosen me for the work

and I put down one and take up another,

and if one baby don't act right, he'll
spank him anyway and make him act right.

When I had the Malcolm X case,

I was interested in finding out
that they were

turning on each other
and who was in which faction.

So when Malcolm was suspended,
I interviewed him in his home

and tried to talk him
into being an informant.

Good morning, how do you do?

We're the FBI.

Do you have a couple of minutes?
Like to talk to you.

All right, a couple of minutes.

I did not know
it was being recorded at the time.

And your name is, uh...?

- Beckwith.
- Beckwith?

- Right.
- And your name is?

- Fulton.
- Fulton.

Uh, frankly, one of the reasons

we picked this particular time

to contact you
is because of the suspension.

The suspension
was brought about by my own doing.

Yeah, exactly.

Uh, we would be...

interested in having you help us out.

Help you out to do what?

What we're interested in,

um, basically... are the names...

Who they are, their identification.

I don't even know them.

Uh... You have...

Do you keep no records?

That's not my job.
I'm just a preacher.

Yeah.
But somebody up there keeps a record?

I don't know who.

I don't have any knowledge
of those kinds of things.

Um... Sometimes, uh...

Money brings out the information.

Uh, and no intent to insult you here.

You insult my intelligence.

And in fact, no,
you insult your own, because

you wouldn't know in advance
what I'm going to say

when you ask that question.

There is no government agency

that can ever expect
any information out of me.

We talked to him in there
for a little over an hour.

He was nice and courteous,

but not too cooperative.

So, it was a try.

You make a stab at it.
If it works, it works.

If it doesn't work, you move on.

Malcolm X, you were involved

in a controversy some months ago
with your leader.

- Is that over?
- I've been silent

because of some statements I made

concerning
the President of the United States.

There is no such thing
as a split between you--

No, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad
taught me everything I know

and made me everything I am.

Malcolm had learned to depend
on Elijah Muhammad

greater than a man would look
to his father.

He didn't have a father,
just like me,

and Elijah Muhammad was a father.

When Malcolm was set down
by Elijah Muhammad,

he was not technically fired,

but he was no longer allowed
to perform his duties.

And Malcolm was writing letters
that were designed to reconcile.

He would write.
There was no answer.

No way in the world
could he even contact Elijah Muhammad,

'cause it wouldn't go past
the head office.

Whatever his relationship was

with Elijah Muhammad
now had so many intermediaries,

he could not even directly communicate.

I believe the authorities of this country,

they been trying to put Elijah Muhammad
against Malcolm for the long...

They were sending false mail out
during that rift.

I was living in Miami at the time.

I was a captain over at the mosque.

They called me Captain Sam
back at that time.

This is Sam Saxon,

leader of a militant Miami mosque.

They are black Muslims.

And the FBI says the movement
is a potential threat.

So, I was
in the streets of Miami, selling papers.

I heard somebody holler across the street

"Hey, Brother!"

He said, "Yeah, I'm Cassius Clay,

I'm gonna be the next heavyweight
champion of the world."

I was like, "Yeah, man, I know you.
You just won the Olympics."

And from that day on,
me and him, we hit it off

like two peas in the same hull.

I assigned myself as the head of security
for Cassius Clay.

I introduced him to Malcolm.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad

sat Malcolm down
from speaking to the public

for 90 days.

So we brought Malcolm down to Miami

and let him cool out.

Give him a little vacation.

That's when it come loose that

Malcolm was in Miami

to recruit Cassius Clay

to the Black Muslim Movement.

I want to talk with you briefly
about your affiliation with Cassius.

Cassius has been
following the religion of Islam

for the past four or five years,
and he's the most... He's always been

the most likable, friendly
person in the world.

Cassius Clay finds an image

in the Nation of Islam,
and especially Malcolm X,

that he's really, really attracted to.

Clay says, "I saw the way
he was battling these white folks

and defeating them."

And he said, "You know,
I fell in love with him."

I frankly believe

that Cassius is in a better position
than anyone else

to restore a sense of racial pride
to not only our people in this country,

but all over the world.

In January of 1964,

Ali is getting ready
for the biggest fight of his life.

He's also got Malcolm
sort of whispering in his ear.

Do you have
any prediction you'd like to make?

- No...
- When we'll solve this...

Cassius makes all the predictions.

Two people are bent
on controlling Cassius Clay.

One is Malcolm X.

The other is Elijah Muhammad.

Elijah Muhammad sees Clay
as a pliable gold mine.

If Malcolm had enough control over Clay,

he could tell the Messenger,

"All is forgiven on both sides,

and this is what I'm going
to deliver to you."

Malcolm tried to leverage

the relationship
that he had developed with Ali

in order to bring him back
into the good graces of Elijah Muhammad.

Welcome
to Miami Beach, Florida,

for the heavyweight
championship of the world.

I think Malcolm was aware

that there were a lot
of different ways this could go,

but as it happened,
he was ringside in seat number seven.

Another jarring
right hand that time.

There goes another one! Sonny wobbles!

Sonny wobbles!

Clearly, if Ali were to win
the heavyweight championship,

he would be an important
figure to the Nation of Islam.

And if Malcolm's the guy
who helps make that happen,

then he maybe becomes valuable too.

Here we are in round seven.

- Wait a minute...

Sonny Liston's not coming out!

He's out!

The winner and the new heavyweight
champion of the world is Cassius Clay!

I don't have a mark on my face,

and I upset Sonny Liston
and I just turned 22 years old.

I must be the greatest!

Malcolm X, what do you think
of Cassius's victory in Miami?

I think it was a great victory.
He proved he was the best man.

After Cassius Clay wins
the heavyweight championship,

Malcolm X is trying to say that,

"If this young man comes with me,

we can influence millions of people
all across the world."

It's just that he's not as clever
as Elijah Muhammad

when it comes to power politics.

They had said that he would...

Liston would tear up
that pretty face of yours...

But Allah and myself said, "No, no."

Elijah Muhammad was playing chess
when Malcolm was playing checkers.

The Messenger gives Clay a new name,

Muhammad Ali,

a name that Malcolm really never got.

Why do you insist on being called
Muhammad Ali now?

That's the name given to me
by my leader and teacher,

the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

That's my original name.
That's a black man name.

Cassius Clay was my slave name.
I'm no longer a slave.

What does it mean?

Muhammad means, "Worthy of all praises,"

and Ali means, "Most high."

The way in which you inspire loyalty
is that you give people things,

and it's transactional.

Malcolm had nothing to offer.

Muhammad Ali is going to reject Malcolm X.

Um, part of that is out of fear
of angering the Nation of Islam.

Part of that's just narcissism.

Now, what Malcolm X does
is his business, he's one man.

Once Elijah Muhammad turned on Malcolm,

then Muhammad Ali turned
on Malcolm.

And that's when Malcolm realized,
really came to understand,

that his days in the Nation
were pretty much done.

It seems as if everyone around him

understood something
that he was too close to see.

He thought he would be reinstated.

And I think it's really not until

after Muhammad Ali's fight
that he realizes

that that's not going to happen.

I thought it was great.

I thought it was wonderful.

Elijah Muhammad is divesting
himself of his greatest asset

and weakening his organization.

It's like a baseball team
deprived of its biggest slugger.

I mean, how much better
does it get than that?